Fading Innocence Book 1  Academy Days
by EmyBlossom93
Summary: Even the darkest of stories can have the brightest of beginnings. This was theirs.   AU non-massacre
1. The First Page

**a/n**

Standard Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of its affiliated characters  
>Chapter Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love the Way You Lie or Rhianna in any way.<br>They are both used for entertainment purposes only and I'm getting no money out of this...so please...don't sue me, I have to start paying for college soon...

So, this is gonna be my first multi-chapter fic! So excited, I've been working on it for a little bit and I've got the first 7 chaps done.

_sum: A Friendship begins to form when a young Sasuke find and injured Sakura and takes her and her lone friend, Naruto Uzumaki, to his house._

_This entire story takes place during the Academy days, hence the name lol. And is AU: non-massacre, and because of that some characters are OOC (after all can't have an angsty Sasuke who wants to kill Itachi if Itachi's done nothing wrong!) Also, i will say this entire novel won't get too dark, though there will be a few elements. I've got the basic story line planned out and everything and I think this might span 4 fics with the plot getting darker and darker as they get older and older, hence the name Fading Innocence. _

_Each story will also have a quote at the beginning, this can be applied to each individual chapter as well as for the story's themes as a whole!_

_Enough of the boring stuff: Now I'm proud to present you Chapter One!_

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><p><strong>Chapter one: The First Page<strong>

_"On the first page of our story, the future seemed so bright. Then this thing turned out so evil, I don't know why I'm still surprised. Even angels have their wayward schemes, and you take that to new extremes. But you'll always be my hero, even though you've lose your mind"-Rihanna_

"Are you alright?" The nine-year old boy asked the small pink-headed girl whose green eyes were fixed with crystal tears and was nursing an injured arm against her chest. She wore a pair of blue capris and a dirty white shirt with a bright orange jacket over the shirt, unzipped and far too big for her petite structure.

The rosette looked up at the raven-haired boy with uncertain eyes, unsure whether or not to trust the stranger, since her blond best friend had left her for a moment with his jacket and told her to stay and not talk to strangers. This boy wasn't entirely a stranger though, she'd seen him in the boy's class at school when she went to meet Naruto after school.

"Well, are you alright?" the boy repeated.

"I h-hurt my hand." She whispered.

"How bad is it hurt, my mommy can fix it, she can fix anything!"

"I'm supposed to wait for somebody, though."

"Who? Your mommy?"

"No, not my mommy, she doesn't pick me up from school."

"You're daddy?"

"Daddy doesn't like me. . . picking me up from school." Sakura explained. "I'm waiting for my friend."

"Who?" the boy asked.

"Me," the two children turned to see a third with spiky yellow hair, he wore a black shirt and bright orange pants that matched the jacket the girl was wearing.

"Who are you?" The raven haired boy asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki, why did you hurt Sakura-chan?"

"I didn't."

Naruto looked to Sakura for confirmation, "he was just offering to take me to his house so his mommy could make me better."

Naruto looked at the boy in from of him skeptically, "What's your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"What happened, Sakura?"

"I fell, sorry," Sakura looked down.

"It's OK Sakura," Naruto stepped over to her, helping her stand up. "So, will you mom be OK if we come?" Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Sure, you can even stay for dinner." Sasuke shrugged, "Just follow me."

Sasuke took them to a large compound with a large red and white fan of the entrance gate. "This is where you live?" Naruto asked, looking around at all the houses.

"Here," Sasuke walked into one of the larger houses, "I really live in this house with my mom, dad, and older brother."

"Sasuke, is that you?" A woman yelled.

"Yes ma'am," Sasuke answered, then turned back to Sakura and Naruto, "Follow me."

They walked to the kitchen where they saw a woman with long, dark hair cooking. She turned around and noticed Sakura and Naruto, "Who are your friends?"

"This is Naruto and Sakura. Sakura got hurt, can you help her?" Sasuke motioned to Sakura's arm.

"Of course, go get the first aid kit," She answered. Sasuke got the white box and handed it to his mother, "Come over here, sweetie," She called to Sakura who looked at Naruto, unsure.

Naruto leaned over and whispered, "Go on, I'll be right here and I don't think she'll hurt you."

"OK," Sakura walked over to the brunette woman and held out her injured hand, "I fell on it," She explained.

"Oh, well it looks sprained," She smiled at the young girl, "But, it should be fine, I'll put an Ace bandage on it."

"Thank you Sasuke's mommy." Sakura smiled and stepped back beside Naruto.

"Call me Mrs. Uchiha, dear."

"OK," Naruto eyed the pot, "What are you cooking?"

"Onigiri, tomato salad, and some umeboshi. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Sakura answered, "If it's not a problem, we'd love to join you."

"Will your parents be OK with it?"

Sakura looked at Naruto, who looked at the ground. Finally, Sakura answered, "Yes," Sakura reached over to Naruto and grabbed his hand, squeezing it, "When will the food be ready?"

"In a bit, why don't you get to doing your homework?"

Naruto and Sasuke both grumbled while Sakura giggled at their reaction, "That sounds like a good idea, let's go."

"We can do it in my room," Sasuke led them to a room with white walls, a single bed with blue blankets, a desk in the corner, and a small pile of ninja paraphernalia sitting in a corner next to a sharpening stone. The trio sat on the bed in a triangle, facing each other.

"That's a lot of kunai and shuriken," Naruto pointed out.

"We can go throw them around after we're down with our homework." Sasuke said, "We have a practice field here on the compound."

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura pulled out a book that said Algebra I and II. "But first we have to do our homework," She reminded. She flipped open to one of the last few pages and started solving various problems. Sasuke pulled out strategy workbook while Naruto started on his basic algebra.

The worked in silence until Naruto finally slammed his book shut and grumbled, "I give up on this stupid algebra."

Sakura giggled as she slipped her workbook back into her khaki-colored book bag, "Need some help?"

"Later, I wanna go throw some shuriken." Naruto grinned over at Sasuke.

"Sure, we can go now," Sasuke stood up and Naruto followed, both offered a hand to Sakura who giggled and used both hands to pull herself off of the bed. Sasuke led them down to the large Uchiha training field where there were open fields for sparring, some dummies, trees, and wooden posts that turned every which way as one hit it.

"Sasuke led them into the back corner by the edge of the trees near a small koi pond. They walked over and Sasuke handed Naruto some shuriken and Sakura a few kunai.

"I'll go first." Sasuke aimed and hit just outside the red bulls-eye, on the thin black line.

"You're really good," Sakura smiled at Sasuke.

Naruto watched the exchange and huffed, "It's my turn." Naruto eyed the target and threw the small star, hitting the edge of the circle. Sasuke smirked and Naruto glared back.

"Good job, Naruto-kun," Sakura smiled at the blonde boy, then looked down at the razor sharp kunai in her small hand, "I don't think I even want to try," She smiled at the boys, "I mean, we've only just started this in class and I suck." Sakura's nose crinkled at the memory of kunai practice, she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the boys.

"You'll do fine, Sakura." Naruto smiled at her, "Just give it a shot, you'll do fine."

"O-OK," Sakura looked at the target that seemed like it was 1000 miles away and bit her lip she aimed and threw the kunai, missing the target by a foot or so. She turned to the boys, "See, I suck!" She thrust the kunai back towards Sasuke with a pout on her lips.

"I can help you, if you want me to," Sasuke told her, "You're doing the basics right, but, you should learn to change it a little to better suit you."

Sakura looked at Naruto, uncertain, "Will you help me too, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled at the rosette he'd come to love as a younger sister, "Of course I'll help you, Sakura, after all, can't let that teme have all the fun." Naruto smiled over at Sasuke.

"Naruto, that isn't a nice thing to say!" Sakura protested, she was used to Naruto's foul language and unruly ways; after all, he'd been on the streets for so long he'd grown up around it, but, that didn't mean she still wouldn't protest it.

Sasuke just smiled and put a hand on Sakura's thin shoulder, "Don't worry, Sakura, that's the kind of thing I'd expect from a dobe."

"You teme!"

"Dobe."

Sakura sighed as the two threw names back and forth, she really didn't want to embarrass herself any further but, if it would keep her two friends from arguing then, "Guys, aren't you going to help me with my throwing?"

Both boys stopped and looked at the lone female, "Sorry, Sakura-chan, we'll help you now." Both Sasuke and Naruto helped her throw the kunai at the target until gradually she started hitting it.

That's how Itachi and Fugaku found the trio of youngsters. "Who are your friends, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, surprising his brother and the two youngsters. He watched as the young pink-haired girl stepped so she was slightly behind the blonde boy.

"Nii-chan?" Sasuke called, running to see his brother, who he looked up to. "Otou-san." He turned back to his companions and smiled, "This is Sakura and Naruto, they're some friends from the academy. Sakura, Naruto, this is my father and brother."

"Hi," Naruto nodded to each, the only person he showed respect for was the Hokage and that wasn't really about to change.

Sakura remained quiet for a moment before stepping out from behind Naruto and bowing slightly to each of the older men, always the polite one, and saying, "Hello, I'm Sakura." She straightened back up and stepped back behind Naruto.

"Okaa-san invited them for dinner, is that okay?" Sasuke asked.

Fugaku looked at the small, blonde kyuubi container and the shy, pink girl half hidden behind him, then back at his youngest son who was smiling at his new found friends. "If your mother says it's OK, then I suppose they can stay for dinner."

Sasuke smiled and ran over to his friends, "C'mon, we should get cleaned up before dinner." He turned to the house and started towards the house with Naruto in tow. Sakura turned to the two dark-haired men and gave a half bow, "Good bye," she smiled at them before running after the boys who were waiting in the doorway.

After they'd washed up the trio walked into the living room and saw Itachi sitting on the couch filling something out.

"Can we watch TV, Itachi?" Sasuke asked, picking up the remote.

"Yes." Sasuke flipped on the TV to a cartoon and they settled in to watch it.

Itachi looked up as he finished his scroll and set it down on the coffee table. The small thud attracted Sakura's attention, she looked over at Itachi and smiled at him before putting attention back on the TV She curled her arm around Naruto's and laid her head on his shoulder, who in turned smiled at the girl before turning back to watch the show.

"Kids, time to eat." A voice called from the kitchen and Sasuke quietly turned off the TV before standing up at the same time as Naruto. Sasuke reached a hand down and helped Sakura stand up, causing a half smile to come to Itachi's face. Itachi followed the three into the kitchen where the food was on the table. Fugaku was already seated at the head of the table and Itachi sat to his right, Mikoto sat at the opposite end. Sasuke and Naruto sat next to each other and Sakura sat next to Itachi, across from Naruto.

They ate in silence for a while and the whole time Naruto felt like he was going to burst. A few times, he was going to say something but each time Sakura would catch his eye and silently tell him to keep quiet until somebody else said something first.

Well, no one said anything until Mikoto served dessert and asked her youngest son, "So, Sasuke, how do you know Sakura and Naruto?"

Sasuke looked over his bowl of plain vanilla ice cream, the same as his father, at his mother, "Well, Naruto is in my class at the academy but I met Sakura after school. She'd hurt her arm and I asked if she needed any help; I told her you could fix it so they agreed to come over."

Sasuke finished his narrative and smiled, looking over at Sakura's injured wrist that was laying next to the bowl of vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries on top.

"Ah," Mikoto smiled at the exuberance of her youngest son spoke with. She was secretly happy that he'd found friends. While Itachi was talented and had his moments, the Uchiha heir was lacking in the social department and it really bothered Mikoto sometimes that the only friend Itachi had was Shisui. Mikoto turned back to Sasuke, "So, what did you three do today?"

"Well, we did homework, then throwing practice, and then we watched TV," Sasuke supplied.

"Was the homework hard?"

Sasuke shook his head with a confident smirk, "Not for me."

"Of course not, what about you two?"

Naruto crinkled his nose at the fact that the first time he got to talk was this. Sakura giggled and saved her brother, for all intents and purposes, from the coming embarrassment; although, she felt it would teach him a lesson for sleeping in school, "I do just fine in school, well, the mental stuff at least, Naruto's better at the physical stuff, though." Sakura smiled at Mikoto.

"So, you get good grades then?"

"I suppose so."

"That's great, so how was your day, Itachi?"

Itachi looked at his mother, "It was fine; Shisui and I went scouting and we spared a little."

"How is Shisui?"

"He is about to take the ANBU exams."

"Then you'll be on more missions together, right?" Sasuke asked, looking across the table at his idol, who nodded.

"Does that mean you're an ANBU, then?" Sakura looked at Itachi with wide green eyes, Itachi looked down at her and nodded.

"Wow," Naruto gaped at the young man, "But you don't look that old. How old are you?"

Sasuke smirked and answered for Itachi, "Nii-san in 14 years old."

Sakura looked at the Uchiha heir with a smile, "So, you're really good then, aren't you?"

Itachi nodded, "I guess so."

"Always so modest," Mikoto laughed, knowing well the extent of her son's abilities. But, she also knew how her son felt about bragging and that Itachi respected his brother's feelings. Itachi sent his mother a half smile (Mikoto called it the Uchiha smile, once they hit puberty, it didn't go past a half) and complimented the dinner, his way of thanking her.

"It was really good, ma'am." Sakura agreed.

"Can we go outside and play for a little while?" Sasuke asked,

Mikoto looked at the settings sun and shook her head, "Sorry, Sasuke, but it's getting dark, maybe tomorrow after school, and then it'll be the weekend."

"OK," Sasuke sighed, "Can I walk them home?"

"Why don't you and Itachi walk them home, together?" Itachi looked at his mother with an annoyed look in his eyes.

"It's OK," Sakura said, "We can walk home by ourselves."

Mikoto shook her head, "Nope, I will not have two nine year olds walking around by themselves in the dark. Itachi will take you," Mikoto looked pointedly at her son, "Go get your things together."

At this everyone but Fugaku and Mikoto cleared out, "The kyuubi and a girl with pink hair," Fugaku finally spoke, "Are you sure Sasuke should be friends with them?"

Mikoto laughed, "They're both sweet children, Fugaku, and Sasuke needs to be with children his age. Naruto himself knows nothing about it, why punish him for something that's not his fault, after all that's not what his father wanted. And that Sakura girl is a little angel, your son and that boy spent all afternoon helping her perfect her throwing skills. I've never seen your son be so patient with someone who didn't understand something. It'll be good for Sasuke to socialize and be friends. I think it'll show him that not everyone has it like we do and I wanna know my son has someone other than family to turn to."

Fugaku half smiled, "If you think so, I'll trust you. But, you have to know that that girl, Sakura, won't replace the baby girl you always wanted."

Mikoto smiled and rested her hand on her flat stomach where a scar from a katana had made her infertile a year after giving birth to Sasuke. She looked at her husband and smiled, "I know, but I feel like Kami's given me this opportunity and I'll b e damned if I miss out on it."

Fugaku stood behind his wife and kissed her cheek in a rare, loving gesture. He know how much his wife had always wanted a baby girl, since she was raised with two younger sisters. He knew how much it killed her not to be able to have a daughter and he would accept these two children as his son's friends, because he wanted his wife to be at peace and to be happy.

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><p><strong>an**

Well, there you have it! Chapter one done!

Review and tell me what you thought about it! It's a little hard to do The Uchiha parents because the show doesn't delve into them as much, only that Fugaku is a little bit of a prick and Mikoto's the motherly type :) .

I'll probably have the next chapter up when I get a few reviews, not that I'm a review whore or anything but I wanna know I have some interest before I start posting. I'll probably post this and 1 other multi-fic story up and I'll use the number of reviews for each chapter to decide which ones more popular so I can adhere to the consumer wants (I'm so taking econ this year...learning about supply/demand and free market and all that jazz lol).

So, hmu with a review if you have the time!

Emy!


	2. Some Good Times

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its affiliated characters.  
>Chapter Disclaimer: I do not own You're Gonna Miss This or Trace Adkins in any way, shape, or form<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Some Good Times<strong>

_"You're gonna miss this, you're gonna want this back; you're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look around, you may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this."-Trace Adkins_

Over the next few weeks, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke grew closer. They would meet after school and go to Sasuke's house and play all afternoon before Itachi would walk them home. Today was different, though, as the three friends took the familiar path to the Uchiha district there was a tangible buzz in the air. Today, was the last day of school before winter break, two weeks of no school.

"Look, it's Itachi," Sasuke led them over to where Itachi was seated with another boy around his age. "Hello Itachi, Shisui."

Itachi looked down at his younger brother, "Are you out of school already?"

Sasuke nodded, "For winter break."

"Ah, who are your friends?" Shisui asked.

"They're his friends, Sakura and Naruto." Itachi answered.

"Hello there, Naruto, Sakura," Shisui nodded to Sakura and sent her a smirk, "How are you today, Sakura?"

"I'm fine, Shisui-san."

"Please, just call me Shisui, or Shisui-kun, whichever you prefer little cherry blossom."

Sakura's face lit up red, "M-Maybe just Shisui. Are you Itachi's friend?"

"I'm Itachi's cooler friend."

Sakura looked over at Itachi and giggled, "I don't think so, Shisui, Itachi is really cool."

"If you say so," Shisui nodded.

"Wow, I never knew you were such a womanizer, Shisui, starting a little young aren't you?"

"Well, Itachi, I don't think I could ever date a nine year old, however, one day she'll be 21 and I'll be 26 and we'll both be able to get drunk out of our minds. So, in order to do that I need to make sure she knows how uncool you are, just covering all my bases."

"I'm confused," Sakura's lip pouted out, causing both boys to laugh.

"My point, my little cherry blossom is that one day you are going to be a very beautiful little heart breaker. Which means," Shisui turned to Naruto and Sasuke, who were both looking at him with a who-do-you-think-you-are look, "You two are going to have to learn to keep an eye on her and protect her from all the boys."

"Like you?" Naruto asked.

Shisui laughed, "Worse than me."

Sasuke looked at Sakura, who felt like a science project, "I can do that, definitely."

Itachi just shook his head, "So, what were you planning to do today?"

"We were going to play hide and seek." Sasuke said, "In the forest around the training area."

"That's cool, we should play too." Shisui said, looking over at Itachi.

"Will you?" Sasuke looked at Itachi who sighed, "Just for a little while." He sent Shisui a glare.

"C'mon then," Sasuke grabbed Itachi's hand and pulled him off the chair.

"Whose gonna be it?" Sakura asked as they walked to the training grounds. "Not me!" Sasuke and Naruto both called out at the same time. "I don't want to be it, either." Sakura looked at Shisui and Itachi, "So, that means it's going to be one of you."

Shisui chuckled, "Itachi's it then!"

Itachi glared at Shisui again, "Why me? You're the one who decided to play this stupid game."

"Maybe you should play fairly and not act more childish then the kids," Shisui laughed, "C'mon, it'll kill some time at least."

Itachi sighed, "Fine, I'll be it," He glared again before counting down from twenty. When he finished counting he reached out and sensed three chakra trails, all new, that clearly marked a new, young ninja: Sasuke and his friends. Shisui, of course, had completely suppressed his chakra. Itachi reached out and felt Sakura's chakra closest, so he went after her.

Sakura had hidden in an alleyway beside a bookstore. Sakura slowly went to one of the crates on the outside and looked through the large pile of books.

"Where are your parents?" A voice asked, Sakura looked up to see a man looking down at her, he had brown hair and bandages covering all of his left eye.

"I'm playing hide and seek with my friends: Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, and Shisui."

"Oh, is that Naruto Uzumaki and the Uchihas?"

"Yes, Itachi's it right now so I have to hide."

"Well, you're not hiding very well by staying out in the open like this, why don't you come with me and you can tell me more about your friends."

The man smiled down at Sakura, "We can go sit in the book store or go get some ice cream, what ever you'd want."

Sakura looked at the ground, "Strawberry ice cream, please?"

"If that's what you want. You can even get sprinkles on it if you want to."

"OK, I'll go with you; but, we can only stay for a little while, I don't want my friends to get worried if I'm gone for too long."

"Just one bowl, then." He nodded, "Well, let's go." Sakura followed the man down to the front of the store.

"Sakura?" A different voice called. Sakura turned to see Itachi standing in the tree, confused eyes going between her and the man, "What are you doing with him?"

"He was going to get me ice cream, strawberry ice cream with sprinkles."

Itachi sighed, "But, don't you know better than to talk to a stranger? I want you to come over here right now, Sakura."

Sakura looked at the ground guiltily as she quickly stepped over to Itachi's side. Itachi looked at the man, "I don't know what you're playing at, Danzo, but Sakura knows nothing, she's just a friend of Sasuke's. You should know better than to involve her in whatever the hell it is you want."

Danzo just smirked, "She's a very smart child, and she chooses interesting . . . playmates, I was simply curious."

"Your never just 'curious'" Itachi glared at him.

"I suppose your right, but isn't it about time you two get back to your little game? After all, it is important to enjoy childhood before it passes you by. I'll be taking my leave now." Danzo turned to leave, "I'll be seeing you soon, little cherry blossom. Perhaps next time we meet you'll be in full bloom."

"Come on, Sakura, let's go find the others so we can go and eat dinner."

"OK!" Sakura followed Itachi down the road, "Who was that man?"

"Nobody, but if you ever see him again I want you to get away from him, can you promise me that?"

"Yes, I can," Sakura smiled, "Do you know where to find the others?"

"Well, Naruto is right here," Itachi lifted the lid off a large pot and Naruto was curled up into a ball inside, "Aw man, you found me!" Naruto yelled, hopping out of the pot and standing next to Sakura.

Sakura laughed, "Let's find Sasuke next!" She announced, "Do you know where Sasuke is, Itachi?" Itachi nodded and walked away, the two children in tow.

They found Sasuke on the next street over, using a nearly perfect jutsu that allowed him to look like an old man.

Sakura complimented him while Naruto grumbled about 'stupid, no good showoffs'.' Sasuke smiled at Sakura while blatantly ignoring Naruto's taunts, this was a pattern that would persist throughout their years. Shisui was found in a restaurant, eating a plate of ume, which he gladly shared with Sakura; still continuing his flirty ways.

"We need to get home so we can eat, Shisui, it's getting dark." Sasuke said, unamused by Shisui's antics.

"Okay," Shisui paid and they left. When they got back to the house, Mikoto was in the kitchen cooking, Fugaku was drinking tea at the table, "You are home later than usual," he pointed out.

"Yeah, sorry, we decided to play a game of hide and seek." Shisui explained, large grin on his face, "Sure smells good." He pointed out, looking over at Mikoto.

"Thanks, are you going to stay, too?" Mikoto asked, looking over her shoulder as she stirred something in a pot.

"If you'll have me, I'd enjoy to partake in some of your delicious food." Shisui said, still looking into the pot.

"Why don't you three go wash up?" Itachi suggested, looking at Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto.

"M'kay," Sakura said, smiling at Itachi, and quickly took a hold of her friend's hands and led them to the small bathroom so they could all get cleaned up.

Itachi turned to look at his father, "Danzo was in town today,"

"Did he say anything to you?" Fugaku asked, looking at his successor from over the top of the cup.

Itachi looked at the direction the younger ones had gone, "He spoke to Sakura, asking her about us. She didn't really say anything other than she knew us, she didn't know who he was. I don't know exactly what Danzo wanted to get out of talking to a nine-year old, though."

Fugaku looked at his son, "I don't think we need to worry about it, yet, I mean, there's not much Sakura could have told him, best to just keep an eye on it, as we've been doing."

Itachi nodded as they ran back into the room, "Go on ahead and get seated."

Naruto and Sasuke waited for Sakura to pick a seat before they sat on either side of her, both eying Shisui suspiciously. Shisui smiled at them as he sat to the right of Sasuke, beside where Itachi would sit.

"So, are you guys excited to be out for winter break already? A full two weeks with no school ought to be pretty exciting." Mikoto asked the kids after everything was served.

"You betcha, nothing like being able to just relax all day and not having to worry about being yelled at." Naruto joked.

"It will be nice to have to deal with all of those annoying people." Sasuke muttered, "Though not having to do as much work will be nice, as well."

Mikoto laughed at the two young boys, they'd hung out for about a month now and even though she hated to admit it they acted more like brothers than Sasuke and Itachi did; in the friend sense, at least.

Mikoto turned to the sole girl of the group, very much the most mature out of the group, as far as Mikoto was concerned. At least, she was the one that kept the boys on track and out of trouble (they could get in loads of trouble). "How about you, Sakura?"

Sakura looked up at Mikoto, with a surprised look that clearly showed she hadn't been following the conversation. Which was the exact case, instead, Sakura was focused on the day's event. She was curious as to who the man at the bookstore had been and why Itachi had acted so . . . strangely around him; it was as if he disliked the man yet in the same way was scared of him; but, not in the sense that he was afraid that strange man, Danzo, would hurt him.

Sakura looked up at Mikoto, her eyes tracing over Fugaku and Itachi, noticing how similar Sasuke and his brother and father looked like one another, all except for the stiffness. Both of the elder Uchihas held themselves in a way that seemed more like a statue, while Sasuke was still very loose. Sakura found herself wishing Sasuke never grew to be exactly like his role models, no matter how much he wished he could be.

But, there was a question to answer and Sakura realized they must think she was slow by now, "I don't really care, honestly, I guess I'm glad to be getting a chance to slow down a little bit." Sakura smiled a closed-lip smile as she answered.

Mikoto nodded, "And do you have any special plans with your family?" Mikoto asked, it had become a slight game with her and the two children to try to figure out more about them. Although she was aware Fugaku had looked into their back grounds, she wanted them to tell her about themselves.

She knew Naruto was an orphan without looking into the past and without having to ask anything; in fact, she knew more about Naruto than he knew about himself. But, Sakura, she didn't really know anything about. She knew she was friends with Naruto and Sasuke and that was pretty much it.

She knew that Sakura loved sweets and pretty things, though she wasn't really a girly-girl, and was becoming even less so the more she hung out with the two boys.

Sakura shrugged, "I don't think we are but I'm not really sure."

"Ah," Mikoto nodded, "Doesn't your family normally take a vacation or something?"

Sakura shrugged again, "Not really, at least we don't plan anything." Nothing was ever planned at her house. "Do you guys do anything?" She asked, effectively taking the conversation off of herself.

Mikoto looked over at Fugaku and smiled at a secret joke, "Well, sometimes we go to the country house, but we weren't planning it this year, we're letting a group of friends rent it for the next month or so. Actually, in a little over a week we're getting the honor of hosting a party; a winter gala. Everyone will be there, the hokage and his children, the major clans of Konoha, that sort of thing."

"Sounds . . . interesting," Sakura supplied, she'd never been to such a thing before.

"Sound boring." Shisui muttered.

"What a shame it is, then, that you must attend." Mikoto smiled at him.

Shisui shrugged, "Maybe I'll meet a cutie." He chuckled as Itachi rolled his eyes, "Not that anyone can lift a finger to your beauty, my dear." Shisui winked at Sakura, causing her face to light up red. "Well, no one except for you." Shisui inclined his head towards Mikoto, causing her to roll her eyes at the twelve year old's flirtatious ways.

"Yes, maybe you will meet some girl who'll be able to keep you from flirting with everything that wears a skirt." Itachi told him.

"You're just jealous you don't have the abilities that I have when it comes to the ladies," Shisui shrugged, "Don't worry about it, though, some girls go for that whole jerk attitude. You know, serious and brooding 24/7, and never cracks a smile and a workaholic?"

"You are both perfectly fine," Mikoto told them, keeping the peace.

"You ever heard that phrase, 'a face only a mother could love?'" Shisui asked Itachi, chuckling when Itachi sent him a glare.

"I'm just joking, learn to take a joke." Shisui rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath.

"Well, I'm sure you guys will be able to spend lots of time without having to go to school." Mikoto turned the conversation back to the three youngsters, "But, for now, I do believe it's time for you two to get on home, it's getting to be late and your parents will want you guys home."

Naruto looked at Sakura, "OK, you're probably right." Naruto stood up and helped Sakura, "And it's not too dark, we'll be fine walking by ourselves tonight."

Mikoto looked out the window at the setting sun, "OK, you guys be safe though."

"We promise." Sakura smiled as she stood next to Naruto, a smile spread across her lips.

"See ya!" Naruto waved and quickly took Sakura by the hand, leading her away from the table.

"Bye!" She called over her shoulder, leaving the Uchihas at the table.

* * *

><p><strong>-ChAptEr FiN-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>an **M'kay then . . .

first off, let me apologize for the overall blah-ness of it, I'm trying to set up the basis for things to come since I don't like just jumping into plot without fleshing it out first. So the first few chapters will be character introductions, plot beginnings, foreshadows, etc.

And, speaking of character intros, there were two important ones here: Shisui and Danzo.

On the one hand I'm not sure how to portray Shisui, everytime I've ever seen him talked about he tends to seem more of a fun guy, like a foil to Itachi. So, for the most part, that's what he'll be here, a bit of comic relief; but, don't think that means he's only there for laughs and giggles, he has importance as well!  
>So, for my fic at least Shisui will be a funner version of Itachi, lol. And since the mangaanime doesn't really go into detail about Shisui's character I can't really make him OOC...hmmm.

And then we have Danzo-confusing, multi-dimensional Danzo (if you aren't caught up with the manga I'll try to refrain from any spoilers in this AN, but know that this story will eventually reveal some secrets in the anime/manga, as a lot of canon-parellel fanfics are apt to do). He's the hardest one for me to write because I'm trying to find that balance of bad/good/misguided guy who has a tendency to be overbearing and selfish . . . its hard. Props to everyone on here whose seemed to got it down.

So, this is the second chapter of the story, hope you enjoyed it! Take time to review, please, it would mean a lot to me to know that there are people here who actually read the chapter and care enough to review, it makes my wittle heart swell with pride.

Until next time

_**-Emy**_


	3. The Only Way Out

**General Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any related affiliates or characters.**

**Chapter Disclaimer: I do not own Superchic[k] nor their song Stand in the Rain. **

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><p><strong>Chapter Three: The Only Way Out<strong>

_"She won't make a sound, alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering, if she stands she'll fall down. She wants to be found, but the only way out is through everything she's running from. Wants to give up and lie down." -Superchic[k]_

Naruto and Sakura walked down the long road away from the warmth of the Uchiha estate; the wind around them whipped at their exposed skin and Naruto quickly threw his jacket around Sakura's thin shoulders to keep the wind off of her. At least he had a real shirt and not the blue tank top she was wearing.

They walked underneath the street lights towards a deserted section of town, away from the small stores that lined the main street. Around them the houses grew smaller and smaller, more and more generic, until they reached a small white house pushed back from the road with a line of cracked, weed covered, stepping stones that lead to the once-upon-a-time white door with a screen in front of it, a large hole in the bottom from where a shoe had gone through at some point in its history.

Sakura threw her arms around Naruto tightly and gave him his bright orange jacket back. She kissed his cheek once before stepping completely back from him. "Good night Naruto, I'll see you tomorrow."

Naruto nodded, "Kay, stay safe."

"I promise." Sakura smiled before running up to her house and letting herself in the unlocked door.

Honestly, that thought should have bothered her-the front door being unlocked-but, she was too busy thinking about all the fun she'd had with Sasuke and Naruto over the past few weeks. Everything had seemed to be heading uphill as she got to know the quiet boy and his family, she'd never been happier (other than the first day she's met Naruto) and she'd noticed an improvement in her blonde friend as well - though he was always smiling, she was aware of something beneath the surface of her blue-eyed friend, he seemed to be a little brighter now-a-days.

Her friends had been few and far between; in fact she could count all of the friends she'd ever had on one hand-two: Naruto and Sasuke. They'd hung out with all of their spare time-this included before school, lunchtime, and after school until it got too dark and Itachi had to walk Sakura and Naruto home (that had always been designated at Naruto's actual house, which was a minute's walk away, just a few streets down.)

The front door being unlocked finally registered when Sakura heard the voices in her mom's bedroom, her mom's and a strangers.

This meant her mom had brought home somebody else tonight-not the usual guy. The usual guy was tall and skinny with a weird tattoo under his left ear in the shape of a red dragon and always stank like smoke. Sakura sighed as she ran back down and made sure the door was locked.

She turned back around and quietly tried to get to her bedroom, which was a little bigger than a walk-in closet; in fact, she was fairly certain that it had been some sort of oversized closet since this was supposed to be a one bedroom house. She quietly stepped into the room and closed the door, wishing for a split second she could lock it.

She quickly went over to her small chest full of clothes and changed into a pair of holey cotton shorts and a mismatching overly large shirt. She pulled the string that controlled the light and the windowless room was masked in black. Sakura took sure steps towards her bed and quickly climbed in under the thin, old quilt.

As she lay there she heard the voice carry past her door, showing they'd moved their argument to the main room. She was too tired to comprehend what they were saying, but she did realize when the first hit landed. A deep thud went through the house as a fist hit the wall.

This had happened before, of course, when her mom and current date had had too much to drink and someone said something that was offensive and it led to blows. After the first time, when Sakura had tried to jump in to stop the fighting and had been thrown against the coffee table, ending up with a bruised back and sprained ankle as well as a broken table; she had come to the smart conclusion that she should just stay out of the fight and let it resolve itself.

However, this time she broke her personal rule and walked out of the door to see what was going on.

In the living room her mom stood with her back to the hallway, facing a man who wore nothing but a pair of black shorts with a thin chain hanging from a loop. He had more tattoos than the first guy.

They were arguing over something her tired, nine-year-old mind couldn't quite comprehend and the man slapped her mom across the cheek, yelling out a word Sakura had never heard before, but thought might be one of the curse words all the older kids talked about so often.

Her mom looked at him shocked and yelled, "Get out now!" before turning around to go to her room. The man reached out to grab her but only succeeded in pushing her away instead, causing her to fall off balance and fall to the ground, her head hitting the same, broken, low coffee table. Her mom lay on the ground for a second before beginning to move slowly, very slowly.

"Mommy!" Sakura yelled from her hiding spot and they both looked at her; the man with a quick jerk of his head while her mom moved much slower, still recovering.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, "You didn't tell me you had a little girl, she's much prettier than you are."

Sakura stepped back, shocked at the fact that this man could say something so similar to what Shisui had said but make it sound so much scarier.

"Don't leave quite yet, sweetie, your mom and I aren't quite finished."

"Yes you are, leave us alone." I told him, "You've hurt her, now leave." She stepped out of the hallway, towards my mom. Sakura wished she had a kunai or something to arm herself with, which showed how much influence hanging out with Sasuke and Naruto had been.

Sakura thought to herself, "Normally, I would be scared, hiding in my room. Normally, I wouldn't wish for a kunai because I knew I had no idea how to use it. But not since Naruto and Sasuke had taught me how to keep myself safe, how to throw a kunai and hit the center, or at least close enough to it. They were both stubborn to a fault and stronger than anything, and now it had rubbed off on me."

She just didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

The man looked at her with surprise, "Feisty little one, wearing nothing but a shirt and threatening me. You look no older than seven, do you even know how to fight?"

"I'm nine and I can fight." Sakura said, though her voice was as shaky as she was.

"Sure," He looked down at her mom and cocked his head to the side, nudging her with his foot, "You are much better than her. I wonder . . . " He stepped towards Sakura and that's when she smelled the alcohol.

Sakura thought back to her kunoichi training for a split second. It had been an in-class day and the room was silent as the teacher lectured at the front of the room. She wore round glasses and had brown hair that was extremely curly.

_She'd spoken sharply as she'd taught her students, "You must remember, as kunoichi, that alcohol is very powerful. It causes people to lose control, to not remember, and to do things they normally wouldn't do. When on missions, it is normally forbidden for a ninja to drink because they must stay focused, drinking takes away focus. However, as a kunoichi there will be times you must drink, no matter how bad it tastes or how much you might not like it. This is to get the other person drinking as well, to make them foolish and forgetful so you may proceed with the mission."_

_She looked around the classroom at her students, "If someone is drunk, you must use that against them. Do you understand?" All the students nodded._

This man was clearly drunk now, and Sakura knew he wouldn't be as up to par now. She also knew that being drunk made people, especially men, do stupid, crazy, insane, mean stuff. Stuff the teacher hadn't gone into detail but Sakura knew anyways because of her home life.

The one thing that she'd told the students was, "Men can also be most dangerous when drunk. I have no doubt you could take them down, but, because of being drunk, they are more sexually stimulated, we, as female ninjas, must always be aware of that-no matter how safe the situation may seem."

Sakura remembered how many giggles had erupted in the room as the teacher spoke. They'd all been told about their own bodies for as long as she remembered, it was part of being a kunoichi, using your body against your enemy. But, talking about _SEX _had sent them over the top. Sakura realized now, how serious that warning had been.

And this situation was far from safe.

Sakura stepped back from the man, "Stay away from us, just leave now and you won't be in any trouble."

The man looked at her, "Why are you wearing only a shirt?"

"I'm not!" Sakura said, "I have shorts on underneath."

"Why didn't your mom tell me about you, sweet treat?"

"She was drunk, people are most stupid when they're drunk. You're being stupid now because you've been drinking." She told him.

"No, she was saving you for a surprise."

"No she wasn't!" Sakura ran back down the hallway to her room and flung the door open, heading for her bag with the few kunai she'd gotten at school.

He followed her as Sakura was crouched on the ground getting a kunai out. Her hands reached around a handle as she felt him pick her up. She kept her grip on her only weapon and when he reached down to grab it she shoved it up towards his face and quickly cut his cheek. He said another curse word before going to the door and walking away. Sakura sat up in bed and curled into a ball as she heard the front door slam.

Sakura wasn't sure exactly how long she sat balled up in the fetal position; but, after some time she heard her mother walking down the hallway. She stopped in the doorway and looked over at the young girl.

"Come here," She called to her daughter and Sakura walked over. "Follow me."

Sakura quickly slid off the bed and followed her mother into the bedroom. Her mom pointed to the seat in from of a dirty mirror and Sakura quickly ran over to it.

"Momma, what happened to the man?"

"He left," Her mom said and pulled out a pair or scissors, "You are in need of a hair cut, though, all that pink hair so long isn't a good thing for a ninja."

"But, I think it's pretty." Sakura murmured.

Her mom looked at her, "Do you know the reason your daddy left?"

"Daddy died." Sakura told her mom, firmly. "He died protecting you and a baby me from a bad man."

"No, your dad up and took off because you had pink hair." Her mom said, "I just told you that other story because you were so young."

"You're just drunk," Sakura's voice was shaky.

"No, you were a genetic freak and your father thought I had had an affair so he left. Because you had pink hair." Her mom held the long pink hair in her hand, "You'll feel much better if we cut it."

Sakura didn't respond as the scissors chopped off a few inches of her hair. After the next few rough cuts Sakura closed her eyes until her mother said she was done. Without looking, Sakura hopped up and ran out of the room, down the hall, and out the front door.

She didn't stop running until she'd reached Naruto's apartment (as small thing that was probably the size of four of her mini-rooms) and was banging on the cracked door. She had a key to get in, of course, Naruto had given it to her so she could easily get in and out (mostly to wake him up for school in the morning). However, that key was in her backpack, at her house.

"Naruto, Naruto," Sakura called, banging on the door, eyes watering.

Just when she thought she'd have to spend the night outside the door, she heard someone come to it and unlock it, opening up the door. Naruto stood in front of her in his black shirt and black pajama pants.

"Sakura?" He asked, rubbing an eye, "What are you doing?"

"Can I spend the night here, please?"

"OK, of course." Naruto let Sakura step inside before he shut the front door and clicked the lock into place. "What happened?" Naruto asked, finally taking in Sakura's shortened hair.

Sakura shook her head, "I'm tired, can't we just skip talking?"

Naruto nodded and they walked to his room, Sakura laid down on the bed and Naruto cuddled next to her, in her side. "Sleep for now, I'll help you in the morning."

"Kay," Sakura smiled as she fell asleep, Naruto pressed along her back.

The next morning, when Sakura woke up, she was alone in the bed. She sat up and followed small noises coming from the kitchen. Inside, Naruto was setting two bowls of ramen on the table.

"This is the only thing I know how to make," Naruto shrugged, "You can get the first bowl, after we eat I need to fix your hair so it's straight and you can tell me how it ended up like that."

Sakura sat down in front of the bowl and quickly dug in, enjoying the warmth that spread through her body as she ate. Naruto joined her a minute later with two more bowls and quickly began eating. By the time she was finished eating her one bowl, Naruto had finished his original two, made a third, and was just finishing that one up too.

"I don't know how you always manage to eat so much," Sakura laughed at Naruto.

Naruto just shrugged, "I don't know how you don't eat so much," Naruto stood up, "Let's fix you, Sasuke said he would play with us today and I don't know what time he'll be getting here."

"OK," Sakura followed Naruto into his room and for the first time looked at herself in the mirror. "Wow, I'm so ugly." She said, looking at her reflection. Her hair was uneven and thus stuck out in different directions. The left side came down to her shoulder while parts of the right rested at her chin.

Naruto pulled out a pair or blue scissors and looked at her reflection, "You're not ugly." Naruto told her as he snipped the left side, "Now tell me what happened."

As Naruto snipped her pink hair, Sakura told him what had happened the night before. Naruto didn't say anything as Sakura spoke, just focusing on cutting her hair. When she got to the part about actually cutting her hair, Sakura began crying.

"Do you think it's true, that it's my fault Daddy left?" Sakura asked, looking at Naruto's reflection.

Naruto snipped in silence for a moment before answering Sakura's question, "No, Daddy's don't leave their kids like that."

"But he didn't think I was his kid," Sakura said, "Does that mean I don't have a daddy?"

"I don't have a daddy." Naruto told her, "Or a mommy, or a sister or a brother. I don't got nobody."

"You have me." Sakura said, "And you have a mommy and daddy, they're just asleep now. But, that doesn't make them any less real."

"I guess," Naruto shrugged, "I can't get your hair to be straight without cutting it like a boy's, so the back is higher up. But that's okay, you look like a china doll." Naruto laughed, "You're pretty, always."

"Thanks." Sakura smiled at him and stood up to look at her reflection, the front of her pink hair came to her chin and angled up to the back, though it was uneven and choppy it looked like a four-year old's doll after a hair cut. Naruto had been right, it did kinda look like a china doll. If only she could wear the same pretty kimonos.

"We should probably get dressed," Naruto told her and he walked over to a small wardrobe that was filled with oranges and blacks. To the right was a pile of smaller clothes, white and red. Those were hers.

He got two outfits out and handed her one before walking to the bathroom to get dressed in privacy. When they met back up, Sakura was dressed in a white skirt that came to a little past her knees and a red kimono top. She picked up Naruto's bristle brush, she'd gotten it for him last summer before school started (not that he used it much), and began brushing her shortened locks. As she examined herself in the small mirror, she saw that she was kinda cute, in a tomboyish kinda way.

Naruto walked through the door and smiled at her, running over to give her a hug, spinning her around in a circle. "See, you are always pretty, even with your hair lopped off."

"Thanks," Sakura smiled as Naruto set her down. There was a knock at the door and her head looked at the wall that hid the door from her view. "That's probably Sasuke."

"I'll answer it," Naruto told her and ran over to the door, calling through the dark wood, "Who is it?"

"Hey," Sasuke's nine-year old voice called through the door, "Is Sakura with you?"

"Yeah," Naruto unlocked the door and smiled at his newest friend, "Is Itachi with you?"

"No, Mom said I could come over here myself." Sasuke stepped into the house, "Where's Sakura?"

"In my room, she spent the night." Naruto told Sasuke, then stopped, remembering the change in Sakura's appearance, "Oh, and, don't say anything about her hair."

Sasuke didn't know what Naruto was talking about, but, when he walked into Naruto's bedroom, he was glad Naruto said something. He saw Sakura slipping on her thin blue sandals, the kind all ninjas sported, and she was looking down, staring at her feet. She had on a white skirt and red shirt (Sasuke idly thought how inappropriate it was to wear a skirt to play in, especially a white skirt). But, as Sasuke looked at her head, he saw the short pink, straight hair going down from her face. This was a big difference from her previously long, wavy hair.

"Hey, Sakura," Sasuke called over to her.

"Sasuke," She ran over and pulled him into a tight hug, "It's great to see you, too. Good morning."

"We should probably get going, I wanted to show you guys the woods and maybe we could play hide-and-seek again, or something like that." Sasuke said, stepping out of Sakura's grip. He looked at he and said, before he could really think, "And I like what you did with your hair, it makes you look really pretty, Sakura." Despite the steadiness of his words, the youngest Uchiha could feel his cheeks heat up with the embarassment of giving a _girl_ (even if it was Sakura) a compliment and wondered idly if his father and Itachi would think this a weakness.

Sakura froze, "Um, thank you." Her cheeks were lightening up an even brighter red.

Looking at the small smile and blush she sported, Sasuke didn't think he cared much what his family thought about the compliment, that pleased look (on a face that had looked so sad before) made it worth it.

Sasuke shrugged, "Let's go."

Sakura couldn't help smiling at people as she followed them out of the house, locking the door. They walked down the street, talking about nothing at all as they enjoyed the first day of winter vacation. Sakura followed a step behind them, in the middle, as she looked back from them as they argued, which they usually did. She giggled as she felt her hair smack her face, tickling it; she liked the feeling.

"Sakura," Sasuke looked back over his shoulder at the girl, "Why did you cut your hair?"

Sakura smiled at him, "I like switching my hair up over vacation and I've had it long for such a long time, I decided to just cut it short. But, I had to have Naruto help me trim it up."

"It looks good," Sasuke smiled at her smile, "Mom's gonna throw a fit, though."

"Yeah, she totally will," Sakura laughed as she imagined Mikoto's reaction to her chopped locks. Mikoto loved playing with her hair, curling and braiding it until Sakura felt like a life-size doll and felt like screaming at the top of her lungs from boredom.

"Wonder how she'll mess with it now," Sasuke joked, leading them through the front gates that lead to the Uchiha compound and down the street to their house, nodding at the people who were standing outside their houses.

Sakura shrugged, smiling when she saw Sasuke's house. They walked into it and Sasuke called out, "We're home,"

Mikoto walked around the corner, "That's grea-" She cut off as her eyes settled on Sakura's hair, "That's great. Sakura, why'd you cut all of your hair off?"

"Um, do you like it?" She asked, instead of answering.

Mikoto walked over and ran her hands through Sakura's hair, "It's cute, I like it on you. You look like a little doll."

"Thanks, I usually do something different with my hair when vacation rolls around, and I'm used to having it short, I only just decided to grow it out long." Sakura shrugged, "I don't know if I'll grow it back out or not; it was always getting in my way."

Mikoto smiled, "Yes, I can see how that might be a problem for a little ninja. Why don't you guys go play for a little while, I'll call you in for lunch. Itachi and Fugaku had to run out on some business, they should be back in a little while."

"OK, see you in a bit," Sasuke said and they all ran out to the large training field behind the house.

"What do you want to do?" Sakura asked, sitting down on one of the large rocks, crossing her ankles.

"We're gonna start learning how to spar more effectively," Sasuke said, "We should get a head start on that."

Sakura smiled as she watched them size each other up, "We already started, just a little bit because our fighting style as a kunoichi is a little different from regular shinobis. I'm not sure what you guys will learn. And we don't join classes until next year."

"Can't wait, then we get to pick on you all during class!" Naruto said, laughing, "And, it'll be much easier for me to cheat off of you."

"Naruto," Sakura looked at him, disapproving.

"Just kidding Sakura, kind of," Naruto smiled, turning to Sasuke, "You wanna just go at it, then Sasuke, see what happens? Betcha I could totally beat you."

"We'll see," Sasuke sent Naruto a smirk, raising his hands to fight, "We've already gone over the basics, let's see what happens."

"Be careful," Sakura called as the boys stood and faced each other.

"Yeah, yeah," They both called, facing each other with a smirk and a smile, "Don't worry, Sakura."

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed, "Don't go overboard," She told them and settled in to watch them go at it.

"I'll try to go easy on you," Naruto spoke, raising his fists into the air, "I'll try not to hurt you too much, at least."

"You stole the words right out of my mouth, dobe, why don't you come over here and we'll see whose better?"

"Teme!" Naruto called back, "Let's go!"

Naruto ran at Sasuke and threw the first punch, Sasuke having to lift his own fist to knock away the arm. He lifted his other hand up to connect with Naruto's jaw, causing him to step back quickly.

"Fight back!" Sasuke called at the same time Sakura yelled, "Be careful!"

Naruto looked over at Sasuke, his eyes wide for a second as his hand gripped his jaw, "You punch like a girl, Sasuke." Naruto smiled as he tried to punch again, Sasuke blocking effectively once more; but, then he came up with a kick, effectively knocking Sasuke in the side, sending him flying sideways.

Sasuke landed in a pile on the ground, quickly getting up in a crouch as he looked at Naruto, who was running at him, hands in fists. Sasuke pushed off with his feet and connected with Naruto's stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Sasuke knelt beside him and punched him in the stomach, pinning him down to the ground, "Surrender, give up, Naruto."

"Never," Naruto said, bringing his knees up to Sasuke's side, knocking him off balance enough to get up.

Sasuke tried to regain his balance and pin Naruto back down, but Naruto was already on his feet, crouching as he looked at Sasuke and pounced, knocking him on his back. Before he could pin Sasuke down, Sasuke was able to regain his foot and push back on him, resulting in them both falling on the ground in undignified heaps.

"Are you OK?" Sakura called from her perch on the rocks.

"Jerk!" Naruto ignored Sakura, trying to punch Sasuke as he in turn yelled, "Loser!"

They punched each other in the jaw, a crack sounding from the contacts as knuckle hit jaw; but, whoever had been harmed pushed through as the fists kept flying. Sasuke ducked low and punched Naruto in the stomach, pushing him backwards, off kilter. Sasuke once again pinned Naruto to the ground and punched him in the stomach, "Give up already, Loser!"

"No!" Naruto called back and tried to knee him again, Sasuke was prepared and didn't budge as Naruto pounded.

"Give up!" Sasuke told him, "Give up, already!" Sasuke stuck his knee into Naruto's side.

Sakura sighed as the boys yelled at each other back and forth, rolling her eyes as each boy was too stubborn to give up even though they were both clearly hurt; Sasuke limping from where Naruto had kicked his leg and Naruto favoring his hand and right side of his stomach.

She stood up and walked over to where they were locked in a battle of wills, Naruto not wanting to give up no matter what Sasuke did and Sasuke not wanting to just let Naruto go. She stood next to them, arms crossed, before promptly kicking both their sides, knocking Sasuke off of Naruto with a "Hey!"

"Just call it a tie, your mom called for lunch a couple minutes ago." She looked down at them, "Plus, both of you are hurt."

"I'm not hurt," The both called at the same time, glaring at each other.

"Sure you're not," Sakura rolled her eyes and offered down both her hands, "I'm hungry." They looked at her hand and stood up on their own power, not looking at one another. Sakura sighed as they walked ahead of her, not being able to stop the hurt she felt. She watched them walk to the house and start to walk in before stopping, seeming to realize she wasn't actually with them.

Sasuke glared at Naruto, as if blaming him for Sakura's absence, and called back to her, "C'mon, Sakura, I thought you were hungry."

"I'm coming," She said, rolling her eyes as she walked over to them, her arms crossed over her chest and her lips were pouted. She didn't look at them as she passed them and walked into the house.

"Sakura," Naruto called to her, putting his hand on her shoulder, "Don't be like that."

Sakura huffed and pulled away, going to where she could smell food, wishing for the first time since her hair was cut that she had her old, long hair to hide her face like she did whenever she was embarrassed. Instead, she would just have to settle for staring at the ground.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, glaring, "See what you did? Now you made her mad."

"_I_ made her mad?" Sasuke asked, "Bull crap, it was all you, don't lay any blame on me."

"Hey, all the time I've known Sakura I've never ever made her mad like that." Naruto said, crossing his arms, "This one is all your fault."

"No it's not," Sasuke mumbled, following him.

"There you are," Mikoto smiled at the boys as they followed a sour looking Sakura into the kitchen.

"Told you they were coming," Sakura said, coming in from the direction of the bathroom, refusing to look at the boys as she sat at the edge of the table, beside where Itachi was sitting, leaving no room for either boy to sit next to her.

"Go wash up, lunch is ready and we're waiting for you two." Mikoto told them as she turned around to start serving the food. The boys ran out and in that way only a little boy can, was able to have their hands washed in record time.

They came back into the room in a quick shuffling of feet and sat next to one another across from Itachi and Sakura, both looking at the latter. Mikoto piled the food onto their plates, setting a cup in front of them before sitting down in her seat.

"Dig in," She smiled at them, eying the two boys as they literally dug into their food, noticing the way Naruto was using his left hand instead of the normal right hand; and how Sasuke's hand would twitch every so often as he scooped up more food. Sakura seemed fine, other than the fact she was ignoring the boys other than to send them a baleful look.

"So," Itachi uncharacteristically broke the silence, "Do you like your new hair cut?" Itachi looked down at Sakura, amused by her sour mood; it was akin to a kitten hissing like it was a lion. Both so harmless, yet trying to act so dangerous.

Sakura looked up at Itachi, avoiding the scan over the opposite side of the table, and answered, "It's OK, I'm not used to it yet." She smiled up at him and all traces of anger was gone from her face.

Itachi nodded, "What did you do this morning?"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and Sakura glared at both of them before turning back to Itachi to answer, "I watched Sasuke and Naruto spar a little."

"Really?" Itachi chuckled, looking at the young boys, "And who won?"

"Me," They both answered, looking up at Itachi.

Mikoto laughed as Sakura explained, "It was a tie, I had to pull Sasuke off of Naruto when you called for lunch."

"I won," Sasuke offered, "Or at least I would have won if Sakura hadn't gotten in the way."

"I didn't get in the way," Sakura said, eyes going wide, "And you can't be sure you would have won, that's impossible, and neither one of you were getting very far, you're both too stubborn to give up." Sakura looked over at Sasuke, her arms crossed again.

"Humph," Sasuke grumbled.

Mikoto smiled at them, "I hope you at least had fun."

"It was OK," Sasuke shrugged.

"Are you going to spar some more after lunch?" Mikoto asked, looking at the two boys.

Sakura looked at them as well as Naruto, finally, answered "I guess, for a little while."

"We need to see who would win, anyways." Sasuke said.

Sakura rolled her eyes and simply ate her food, choosing to just ignore the two boys in favor of her meal.

"How did it go in town, today?" Mikoto asked her husband.

"Fine, everything was taken care of," Fugaku told her, finishing up the last bit of his food, "I have a bit more business to deal with, however, so I'll be excusing myself now."

"Bye, Otou-san," Sasuke waved, finishing up his food as well.

"Are you ready to go spar some more?" Naruto asked Sasuke, his plate empty as well.

"Hn," Sasuke replied, a smirk on his face as he stood up, "Sure, let's go."

Sakura rolled her eyes as the two boys rushed outside without even a "Good-bye" or an "I'm gonna go" to any of the remaining three people.

"Are you gonna go back out there, too?" Mikoto asked the little girl, who was currently sending light glares towards where her two friends had run off to.

"Maybe, I'm not sure yet. I don't particularly feel like watching those two beat the crap out of one another," Sakura said, shrugging.

Mikoto chuckled at the little girl's view on her friends sparring, "Well, I'm making some pies to take over to an aunt of Sasuke and Itachi's, would you like to help me with that?"

Sakura looked over at the woman, "Um, I've don't think I'll be much help."

"Sure you will, I'll teach you how to make them. It's not too too hard." Mikoto smiled, "Haven't you ever seen your mother make food."

Sakura shook her head, "She doesn't like cooking, or baking, or just making food."

"Ah," Mikoto said, "Well, I love all those things, so, how about you come on and I'll show you a few tricks."

"OK," Sakura finally agreed, looking at Itachi, who had finished eating but had yet to leave the table, "Are you gonna come, too?"

Itachi shook his head, "No, I don't bake."

"Oh, right, because you're a boy." Sakura smiled, "So, then, what _are_ you going to do?"

"I have a mission briefing in a little while, I'll be going to that," Itachi stated, looking down at the little girl.

"ANBU?" Sakura asked, her nose scrunching up as she recalled their earlier conversation, "Is Shisui going too?"

Itachi nodded, "Yes, this is his first mission as ANBU."

"Oh well, good for him!" Sakura said, "Are you leaving now?"

"Yes, I need to," Itachi nodded.

"Kay, want me to take your plate?" Sakura asked, already gathering Sasuke and Naruto's plates, piling them onto her own.

"Thank you," Itachi said and Sakura reached over to take his plate, her arm crossing in front of his face. Itachi reached out suddenly, his hand grabbing her wrist as he looked at her arm, "How did you get that bruise?"

"What?" Sakura asked, examining her arm where there was a bruise forming on her arm, deep purple in the middle and fading to a blue around the edges; it was about the size of a leaf. Where the man had grabbed her.

"Did you get hurt while they were fighting?" Itachi asked.

"Oh, no," Sakura shook her head, "I wasn't involved in that fight at all. I don't know where I got this bruise from. I bruise really easily, though, so I probably just ran into something and didn't notice."

"Hn," Itachi released her wrist and she slowly picked up his plate, putting it with the others, "I'll be going now. Enjoy cooking pies."

"Bye!" Sakura smiled at him as she headed off to the kitchen, Mikoto standing up, picking the two remaining plates up.

"What was that, Itachi-kun?" Mikoto asked, looking at her older son.

"I asked where she received that bruise, she did not have it yesterday." Itachi shrugged.

"It's not like you to worry," Mikoto smiled at him, pleased to see him warm up to others.

Itachi merely looked at his mom, "I have seen bruises like those before, it happens when someone grabs some one's arm and their palm digs into their arm. Give it a little while and you will start to see the fingers form, or the tips of fingers. I was merely asking to see if she would tell me the truth, she did not."

"Oh, well, I'll see to that, then." Mikoto smiled, "Thanks for asking her."

Itachi shrugged again, standing this time in one fluid movement only advanced ninja could ever achieve, "It would have been detrimental to you, Sasuke, and Naruto if something were to happen to her. You three care about her."

"Oh," Mikoto said, smiling at her son who was doing everything he could to cover up the fact that he'd emotionally reached out to another human being, "Well, thank you, Itachi-kun, I hope your mission debriefing goes well."

Itachi merely nodded as he poofed into smoke, disappearing from the house. Apparently, he'd reached his quota of showing emotion for the day.

"You're just a little cutie," the woman smiled at the pink-haired girl.

"Thank you," Sakura smiled at her, bouncing the baby that was sitting on her lap up and down.

"She likes you," Mikoto nodded toward the baby, "How is Kiya doing, Kana?"

"Just fine, just fine. Keeping me up at night," Kana joked, looking at the little baby.

"I never had that problem, Sasuke and Itachi were both quiet little things," Mikoto smiled, remembering back on those days when she'd get up to check on them, not because they _were_ crying, but because they _weren't_ crying.

"So, how did you two meet?" Kana asked, nodding towards Sakura, who was currently blowing in the baby's face.

"She's friends with Sasuke-chan," Mikoto said, "They met a few weeks ago. Sweet little thing, wouldn't hurt a fly."

"But she wants to be a ninja?" Kana chuckled, "What will she do during a battle?"

"That's something she'll have to come to terms with at some point, right now she's still at the academy, though." Mikoto smiled, "We should probably get home, those two boys are probably wondering where she went."

Kana smiled, "Feel free to come over any time, Kiya seems to have taken quite the liking to little Sakura, she seems to be a little maternal thing."

"What's mathernial mean?" Sakura asked, looking at them as she brought Kiya over.

"Maternal, and it means that you'll make a good mother one day," Kana explained, taking the baby from the young girl.

"Oh, I guess." Sakura smiled, looking at Mikoto.

"We should go," Mikoto said, putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder, leading her out the door, "We'll be seeing you later, Kana."

"Bye," Kana called back as she watched the two walk down the street.

"I don't think I'll be a good mother," Sakura admitted as she walked down towards the main house.

"Why?" Mikoto asked, looking down at the girl. As she did, she noticed that Itachi, as usual, had been right about the bruise; a long thin bruise came from the bigger circle as well as two circular bruises at the tips of the bruise.

"I don't know how," Sakura shrugged, "How can I do something if I don't know _how_?" Sakura asked, looking up at her.

"Doesn't your mom teach you things?" Mikoto asked, walking in through the front door.

"I don't want to be a mom like my mom," Sakura answered.

"Then what kind of mom do you wanna be like?" Mikoto asked.

"You," Sakura smiled as the walked to the kitchen.

Mikoto paused for a minute, looking at the door that the girl had walked through, a frown adorning her face.

"You're back," Fugaku walked in, "Did you bring the girl back?"

Mikoto looked up at her husband, "Yeah, she walked to the kitchen," Mikoto sighed, "We went to visit Kana and Kiya, who adored Sakura. Kana told Sakura she'd make a good mother but, Sakura doesn't think she will."

She looked at her husband, sighing, at his stoic face, "I asked her why and she said because she 'didn't know how', and if she does become a mom, she doesn't want to be like her mom."

"Who does she wanna be like?" Fugaku finally spoke.

Mikoto gave him a sad smile, "Me."

"That's not a bad thing," Fugaku said, simply, but, Mikoto heard the question behind the statement, "I don't know, I've never had anyone look up to me before, both the boys look to you and well, I'm not sure what to do about it."

"You seem to be doing fine," Fugaku shrugged, as if it was nothing but, Mikoto understood the compliment hiding under the layer of nonchalance, "I need to go speak with Itachi about his latest mission."

"OK," Mikoto smiled as her husband walked in the direction of his son's room, "Oh, tell Itachi he was correct."

"Hn," Fugaku nodded in his wife's direction, not pausing to question the ambiguous statement.

"Mikoto-chan?" Sakura called, her head peeping around the corner, "I'm gonna go play with Sasuke and Naruto for a while, OK?"

"Go on ahead," Mikoto said and Sakura quickly ran outside to where Naruto and Sasuke stood, panting and bruised.

"Sakura!" Naruto called to his friend, smiling and waving.

"Hey," Sakura smiled, plopping back down on the rock, "Whatcha doing?"

"Sparring," Sasuke answered, looking intently at Naruto as he got ready to charge again.

"Still?" Sakura asked, her nose scrunching up, "Why don't you just call a stalemate? You're both tired and hurt and well, you both stink!" Sakura giggled.

"As soon as I beat Naruto," Sasuke told her while Naruto replied, "So I guess we'll never stop cause you'll never ever ever beat me! Believe it!"

"Dobe," Sasuke glared; "Teme," Naruto glared back.

They charged each other and punched one another square on the jaw, sending the other flying backward. Sasuke got up first and charged Naruto, forcing him to roll to the side to avoid the ax-kick heading his way. Naruto jumped up but had to duck to avoid a roundhouse to the head, going low to the ground until he spun and did a low, spinning kick, clipping Sasuke's ankle.

Sasuke jumped backwards, favoring his left leg slightly. Naruto stood up, breathing coming in separate, short huffs. Naruto charged this time, fists swinging, throwing punches that Sasuke dodged easily. Sasuke spun backwards, lifting his leg up and hitting Naruto square in the stomach, sending him flying to the ground. Sasuke dropped quickly and attempted to pin the boy down, sending a knee to the side of his stomach.

"Quit already, you dobe!" Sasuke yelled at him as Naruto writhed back and forth, trying to get out of his grasp.

"Never!" Naruto yelled, "Never ever ever!"

"Dang it," Sasuke dug his knee into Naruto's side, trying to force him into giving up.

Naruto didn't stop moving, trying to force Sasuke to let him go and give him room to maneuver out of Sasuke's reach so he could attack once more, but all of his attempts seemed to be futile.

Finally, Naruto was able to escape, sliding away from Sasuke quickly before jumping up and charging the other boy. Sasuke dodged his punches yet again, but wasn't prepared for a roundhouse aimed for his side, which sent him falling to his right. Sasuke quickly righted himself and quickly began returning punches.

Sakura sighed as she saw the two boys dueling it out until they eventually both fell from lack of stamina. Sakura rolled her eyes as she waited for the inevitable falling to the ground, tired. She wasn't disappointed when, a minute later, each boy landed a solid hit on the other's cheek, sending them both down to the ground again.

Neither one of them got up and Sakura finally walked over to them, looking down at their tired forms. "Ready to call it quits?"

When no one replied to her question, Sakura took it as a silent yes, smiling she reached a hand down to both the boys, pleased when they both accepted and she helped pull them up into a standing position. She looked them up and down, not at all surprised to see the bruises and cuts that littered their skin like a morbid tattoo.

"Let's get you guys cleaned up," Sakura said, taking each of their hands to lead them to the house, where the first aid kit was.

"We don't need it," Sasuke protested, "We'll be fine."

Sakura simply rolled her eyes, "Nope, you're getting cleaned up and bandaged up before you get an infection in a cut and we have to amputitate your hand off. Try fighting then."

"What?" Naruto asked, confused as to what amputate meant.

"It means we'll chop off your hand." Sakura told him, plainly, "And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

"No, no, I'll take the band-aids and stuff," Naruto smiled and chuckled nervously, "Let's go before my hand turns green or something."

Sakura laughed as they walked into the kitchen where Mikoto was facing a giant pot. Mikoto smiled down at the trio before her eyes settled on the two boys, sighing, "Go get cleaned up, both of you, you look like you got run over by an elephant or something."

"So you won't have to cut off my hand?" Naruto asked.

"No, not if you hurry," Mikoto smiled as the boys quickly sat at the table and Sakura went to retrieve the white first aid kit, returning with it a moment later.

"Think you can do it, Sakura?" Mikoto asked the young girl, who looked slightly nervous as she nodded slowly, flipping open the white box.

"Me first!" Naruto called, taking the whole amputation thing seriously.

Sakura giggled as she look at Naruto's injured arm, pulling out a white bandage and thin bottle labeled Antiseptic/Antibacterial Cream, "Here, this might sting a little."

Sakura applied the cream and bandages to both of the boys' cuts as best as she could, trying to repeat what she'd seen Mikoto do before. Finally when she was done, she looked to Mikoto, a smile on her face as the woman nodded her approval.

"Nothing you can do about the bruises, though, those will have to stay; maybe it'll teach 'em that sometimes, enough is enough." Mikoto chuckled.

Sasuke and Naruto both grumbled something before they hopped up, Naruto grabbing Sakura's hand, "Let's watch television."

"Kay," Sakura smiled as they ran into the room and began to watch cartoons on the television.

A little while later, Fugaku and Itachi emerged, both looking as emotionless as ever. Mikoto smiled up at them as they walked through the kitchen and into the living room where the kids were.

Itachi looked over at where the three kids were sitting, Naruto and Sasuke on either side of Sakura, who was curled up with her head on Naruto's shoulder and feet slightly on Sasuke's lap. For half a second, he rethought asking speaking up but quickly squashed the stray emotion, "Sakura, can you come with us for a minute?"

Sakura looked up at them and Itachi was met with three very confused faces. Sakura quickly unraveled herself and stood up, pulling her hand from Naruto's as she simply said, "OK"

Itachi nodded and quickly led her and Fugaku into the adjacent room. Sakura followed the two stoic men as quickly as possible, looking around the strange room for a moment before settling across from the two men, a low table in between them.

Sakura looked from one to the another, mostly curious but also with a twinge of fear thrown in. Finally, her eyes settled on Itachi as he went to speak.

"Sakura," Itachi began, looking down at the small girl as he once again wondered if the right thing was being done, "What we are about to tell you cannot leave this room, do you understand that?"

Sakura looked up at him and nodded quickly, "I can't tell Naruto or Sasuke?"

"No, neither one of them can know," Itachi said, looking down at the girl as she nodded again, this time slower as she processed everything that was happening. Finally, she looked up at the older boy, "I-Is this about your mission?"

Itachi smirked, _clever girl_, "Yes, this is about my mission briefing from earlier. In order to complete the mission, we will be in need of your assistance."

"Me?" Sakura whispered, her nose scrunching up as she thought that through; there wasn't anything particularly _special_ about her.

Itachi pulled out a thin scroll and set it on the table, "My mission is to go to a small, neighboring village and help . . . rid them of a murderer."

"A killer?" Sakura's eyes went wider.

Itachi nodded, making sure to give her the appropriate time to process everything, "Yes, about a few months ago a young girl was kidnapped and found murdered, two months later another girl was murdered, a month later another, finally, two weeks ago two twins were taken, one was found dead and the other is still missing."

"Their getting quicker and quicker," Sakura whispered, more to herself as she thought about the frequency of the murders, another murder would take place within a few days, probably the other twin; then, another would be taken almost immediately if the trend kept up.

Sakura's body froze as she, finally, put two and two together, "You need me for bait." It wasn't a question, she knew it like she knew her own name.

"Yes," Itachi nodded, pleased she had figured it out so quickly, "He-whoever it is, has a tendency to go for girls with a genetic quirk, one had purple hair, one had two different colored eyes-"

"My hair," Sakura whispered, mouth scrunching up, she'd always known her unique hair would get her into trouble, she just never imagined it to be so soon. She reached up and tugged on a lock of the offending hair.

"Yes," Itachi nodded, "You are the perfect trap for the murderer; so, we need to know if you will accept the mission. You need to understand, first, that there's a chance you might not make it through. There will be three anbu on this mission, myself included, and we'll do our utmost to keep your safe; but there will be a few moments when the target will have you before we can close in that your life will be in danger. Make sure you understand that before making your decision."

"You'll be there?" Sakura asked, looking up at Itachi, who nodded, "And Shisui?" Itachi nodded again, Sakura turned to look at the third person in the room, about to ask but, he answered before she could.

"Not me, you don't know the third person, but you can trust him; he'll do anything to keep a comrade safe." Fugaku supplied.

Sakura looked down at the table before smiling up at Itachi, "I-I'll do it."

Itachi looked down at the girl, not really surprised by her answer, "Very well, we'll leave tomorrow night. You must remember not to tell Naruto or Sasuke anything about the mission; you may tell them you have a mission, though."

Sakura nodded, trying to take everything in as she tried to prepare herself mentally for what she would be doing.

"You may go," Fugaku told her and she nodded, standing up and bowing before running out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sigh...sorry it took so long, I have NO excuse considering it was already written, though I did go back through and edit and add some to it (keeping in mind the things you guys have saidpointed out in reviews). I tried to stay in character as best I could, though it is AU so there are some character traits that will be slightly off. **

**I tried to make Itachi and Fugaku more formal by taking out any compound words, or at least I think that's what might be what they're called lol. Also, when Itachi asked about the bruise I tried to make it so that it wasn't so much his _concern_ for Sakura as it was his training kicking in. I figure that someone of the ANBU caliber wouldn't feel comfortable not knowing what was going on. So, he asked about the bruise in order to further his knowledge - since Itachi somewhat strikes me as that type of person, as well as some concern for his family because I do believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Itachi cares about his personal family - especially Sasuke. :)**

**Then I had Sakura mispronounce a couple words to remind everyone that they are still children in this book, so they won't be moody and angsty. That's not really the tone I want for this story ... that'll come as they get a little older and start really experiencing the world (hence the name of the story ;p)**

**Well, that's all I do believe. Read and review please, I can't know what y'all want if you don't tell me!**

**Thanks for coming back for another chapter:**

**Emy**


	4. Better Part of Me

**Chapter Four: Better Part of Me**

_"I can't stand to fly, I'm not that naive. I'm just out to find, the better part of me..._

_I can't stand to fly, I'm not that naive. Men weren't meant to ride with clouds between their knees..._

_I'm only a man looking for special things inside of me."-Five for Fighting_

"So, Sakura-chan gets to go on a mission?" Naruto asked, incredulously as he stared at Mikoto, "Th-That's so unfair!" Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, looking over at where Sakura sat at the table, face flushed as she stared at the wood.

"It's not that important, Naruto," Sakura whispered, not wanting to go into much detail about what had to be done on this particular mission.

"Still unfair," Naruto grumbled, looking over at Sasuke to receive support, but greeted only with silence and a pair of intense, ebony eyes.

"What's the mission?" Sasuke finally asked, looking over at the pink-haired girl before she finally answered his question, "N-No, I'm not al-allowed to say anything, sorry."

"You'll be fine, Naruto let's go spar and stop having such a hissy fit about something you can't possibly change." Sasuke looked over at the small, blonde boy who was seating next to him.

"Sure, sure," Naruto stood up and the two boys went outside to spar yet again.

Sakura sighed as she took a bite of onigiri, "Do you think they're mad?"

"No, they're just jealous that you get to go on a super-secret, cool mission while they stay behind. No worries," Mikoto smiled down at the small rosette, "They'll be back to their normal selves in no time."

Sakura smiled up at the woman, "OK, if you say so."

"I do say so," Mikoto laughed, "But, Sakura, honestly are you sure about going on this mission; you know it's going to be difficult and dangerous, right?"

"Yes ma'am, but Itachi and Shisui are both gonna be there, they'll keep me safe. And I don't know who the last man is but, I think he's trustworthy, Fugaku-sama praised him, at least." Sakura smiled, "And I'd eventually be going on missions like this anyways, I'm just starting a little bit early."

Mikoto sighed, "That's what I'm worried about," She muttered under her breath.

Sakura smiled, reaching out her hand to gently touch the side of the older woman's cheek, "Don't worry, it'll all be fine."

Mikoto smiled at the girl, trying to find the courage to believe her words, "Do you think your parents would mind if you spent the night here tonight?"

Sakura's hand dropped from her face as she looked up at the woman, teeth on her bottom lip, "Um, not really, I was gonna spend the night at Naruto's anyways," Sakura didn't add the fact she'd intended to do spend a few nights at Naruto's house, to give her mom time to cool off.

"Oh, that's good, I think you three should spend some time together before you go off on this mission of yours, you and Naruto can use a spare bedroom if you like, and then you won't have to worry about any preparations for the mission because you'll already be here." Mikoto ruffled her hair, "And besides that, your mom needs to sign a waiver before you go off because you're still an academy student."

"So, Itachi'll come with us?" Sakura asked, "I'll go talk to Naruto about it, see what he says. Be right back." Sakura hopped up and ran out of the kitchen, running out the side door to where the boys would be sparring.

Outside, they were going at it again, but Sasuke was clearly gaining an upper hand quickly. Before the fighting got too intense, Sakura stepped up to their fight, forcing them to either hit her in the crossfire or stop all together. They chose the latter.

"What?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the girl as he tried to regain his breathing.

"Um, Naruto," Sakura began, turning to look over at the blonde, "Mikoto-chan invited us to spend the night, is that OK?"

"Believe it!" Naruto yelled, fist pumping the air, "That'd be so cool."

"It's . . . OK," Sasuke said, looking at the girl, "Is that all?"

"Um, yeah, but we need to go get our stuff if we're gonna spend the night here." Sakura pointed out.

"Let's go, then," Naruto said, stepping away from Sasuke.

"Fine," Sasuke said, as he began walking into the house.

"We should watch a funny movie," Sakura said as they sat on the living room floor.

"No, a scary movie," Sasuke said, remote in hand quickly flipping through the many channels.

"Scary?" Naruto asked, looking at the boy.

"Unless you're afraid it'll give you nightmares," Sasuke smirked.

"N-No, I'm not afraid, believe it! I'm just worried about Sakura-chan," he laughed, looking over at said girl.

"If you guys wanna watch it, I'll be fine. Which movie?" Sakura asked, looking at the flashing screen before it finally settled on one.

"This one." Sasuke stopped, setting the remote down as the family on screen moved around, "It's about spiders."

"Gross!" Sakura said, looking at the screen in disgust.

"You're not afraid of spiders, are ya?" Sasuke asked, this time his smirk was for Sakura, who looked at him like a deer caught in a headlight.

"I-I'll be fine," Sakura said, leaning against the armrest on the couch while the others relaxed at the other end of the couch.

Forty-five minutes later, Sakura was regretting those three, stuttered words. She cringed at the spiders on the screen, twitching as she felt her hair on her arm rise, giving the feeling there was something on her arm.

She looked over at the two boys beside her, trying to see if this movie was scaring them at all. Sasuke was simply reclining against the opposite armrest of the couch, eyes on the screen while Naruto was leaning against the back of the couch, arm crossed over his chest. For a second a look of disgust came over before being replaced by interest.

She was, apparently, the only one getting remotely scared by this movie. She sighed and looked back at the screen. She cringed again as the man walked around the room full of spider-webs, looking around. Sakura curled her legs against her body, tense as if she was getting ready to bolt.

She felt herself shaking with the tension. The man looked for the giant spider, reaching out to touch a part of the web. She was pushing herself against the back of the couch. The man looked around, waiting.

The spider leaped and so did Sakura.

"Whoa," Naruto said, looking down at the sudden addition to pink on his lap, "You OK?"

Sakura gripped an arm around Naruto, eyes on the screen. She felt much better, now. Above her, she heard Naruto chuckle at her reaction before reaching down to adjust her so she was on his left instead, between the two boys. Sasuke looked over at the two for a moment, before turning back to the screen.

When the movie finished, Sakura's head was in Naruto's lap, resting on his thigh, and her feet over on top of Sasuke's lap as Naruto swirled his hand through the pink locks absentmindedly. Sasuke reached for the remote and flipped the screen off, looking down at the young girl.

"It's time for bed," Sasuke told them, pushing Sakura's feet off of his lap so that they hit the ground with a light thud. Sakura sat up, a yawn coming up through her chest as she stretched like a cat. She stood up, pulling Naruto with her, as Sasuke stood beside them, "I'll lead you to your rooms."

The spare room was on the same hall as Sasuke's, only separated by the large bathroom. Inside, were two twin beds, covered in dark blue fabric that was a shade or two lighter than the floor. Sasuke flipped the light on and led them into the room, where there stuff was sitting on the bed.

"Here you go," He spoke slowly as tiredness seeped into his bones, "We wake up kinda early around here, I'll get you when I get up so you're not late for breakfast."

"OK," Naruto yawned, hand behind his head as he scratched it.

"Good night, Sasuke," Sakura said, walking over to her stuff as he repeated her words and closed the door, heading to his own room.

"I'm gonna go pee," Naruto yawned out the words as he grabbed his favorite Froggy pajamas and headed out to the bathroom.

Sakura rolled her eyes and quickly changed into her oversized shirt and fleece sleep pants, sliding into the bed, snuggling into the fluffy pillow. She was asleep before Naruto came back into the room.

_Sakura looked around the empty room, her small body shivering as the cold seeped into her frail bones. She forced her legs, numb from the cold, to move around the dark room, trying to find something, anything. There was no door, no window, no table, no anything, save the single bulb on the ceiling, swaying back and forth with an unseen breeze._

_Finally, in the corner of the room, nestled in the corner, against the wall, Sakura found an air vent that was the source of both the breeze and the chilly room. She reached down to the vent, flipping the switch that opened and closed it, closing the small vent and shutting off the cold air flowing out._

_She made to stand up when she heard a noise come from the vent, from beneath the closed metal. Sakura's hands shook as she pushed a single finger towards the switch, wondering whether or not to open the vent and see what was down there._

_Finally, she pushed the small switch and the metal opened, letting out a gust of cold air. Sakura leaned over and tried to peer in, the scurrying noise stopping for a moment before picking up, louder; but, it was too dark to see even an outline of something underneath the metal._

_As she leaned down, her face growing closer, the noise picked up right underneath her nose, sending her backwards in shock, fear, and surprise. Her eyes grew wide as the noise made its way up, before a single spider came out of the vent, scurrying off to the right. Sakura tried to follow where it went, but, it was too quick, disappearing into the shadow in mere moments._

_Another noise brought her attention back to the vent, and Sakura sat, wide-eyed as she waited to see what would come out now._

_Her heart was pounding as the next spider made itself known, quickly followed by others. Sakura stood up and backed up as spiders seemed to pour out of the little vent, quickly covering the floor until they made the floor look like a living carpet. She looked down as she felt a tickle on her leg, and quickly slapped away a spider, sending it flying to the floor._

_Sakura whimpered and kicked as the spiders crawled up her legs, slapping at as many as she could while trying to ignore the small, stabbing pains as she was bit over and over._

Sakura shot up in bed, hand going down to her legs, wiping at invisible spiders. She took a deep breath as she looked down and saw that there weren't any spiders; it had all been a dream. A scary, scary dream.

She looked over at Naruto, who lay on the bed, a buzz of snores as he slept. Sakura sighed, curling up, looking over at her best friend. Finally, she slid out of the bed and made her way over to the boy, lifting the covers and sliding in as quietly as possible. She turned her back to Naruto, looking away as she tried to fall back asleep. She heard, and felt, movement behind her as Naruto rolled to his side, swinging a heavy, warm arm around her, his head coming down to her shoulder as he pulled her closer to him, like an oversized stuff animal or pillow.

Sakura, didn't complain though, as she was able to fall back to sleep.

-0-

The next morning, Naruto wasn't _that _surprised to see Sakura lying next to him in bed, curled against his side, still in deep sleep. He was very aware of the fact that she'd been really scared by the movie, and she had always been prone to nightmares.

He slid out of the bed as the noise that had woken him up repeated itself. He made his way sleepily to the door, rubbing his eyes as he swung it open to see Sasuke standing in the doorway, already dressed in his clothes.

"Breakfast will be ready soon, you should probably get ready. Is Sakura up?" Sasuke asked, peering into the room to see pink against blue.

"I'll get her up, thanks," Naruto nodded, closing the door and walking over to wake the young girl up.

"Naruto?" Sakura sat up, looking at the boy she had just smacked, "Sorry, is it time to get up, now?"

"Yeah, go get dressed," Naruto told her, reaching down a hand to pull her up with.

"M'kay," Sakura quickly pulled the clothes that she planned on wearing and skipped next door to the bathroom, taking a quick, hot shower and quickly slipping on the clothes, rubbing a towel against her short locks as she walked back into her and Naruto's room.

When she got down to the kitchen, she was the last one ready. Sakura smiled to everyone and said a quick, "Good morning," as she took her seat next to Naruto.

"Morning, Sakura-chan, did you sleep well last night?" Mikoto asked, setting a plate in front of Sakura as she sat down.

"Yes ma'am," Sakura nodded.

"Good, good," Mikoto said as she took the first bite of her food. The rest of breakfast was eaten in relative silence, the food disappearing quickly.

"Let's go watch some television," Sasuke said when they'd finished eating, leading the other two children into the living room.

They sat on the couch, watching an old black-and-white sci-fi movie, when Shisui walked in through the door, nodding to the kids (sending a wink to Sakura), and asked, "Where's Itachi?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Check his room,"

"Kay," Shisui quickly walked down the hallway to where Itachi's room was.

Sakura looked to where he'd just gone and her mind quickly forgot the people on the screen; instead going to the mission she would be leaving for that night. Shisui would be there, as well as Itachi. Yet, despite the fact that two well-trained ANBU she knew and trusted, as well as another that she didn't quite know; Sakura was still worried about what would happen.

She knew that the three ANBU would have no problem, they were strong and smart and powerful and well trained. Sakura knew they would be able to carry through with the mission with no problem; instead, Sakura was worried about whether or not _she_ would mess up the mission. She was worried she might forget some important detail or trip up or just do something that would mess the entire mission up. Because, she was not strong or powerful and she was scared to death that her inexperience would lead to just that, death.

"Sakura?" Sasuke's quiet voice broke through her thoughts and Sakura looked over at the boy, "Y-Yeah?"

"Are you OK?" Sasuke asked, eyes on her face, "You seem nervous."

Sakura smiled at them, not wanting to go into detail about her fear of her own incompetence, "C-Can we spar?" Sakura looked from him to Naruto, "Please?"

"Sure!" Naruto said, jumping up excitedly, "Let's go outside."

Sakura smiled and stood up at the same time Sasuke did, both following the energetic blonde outside the door. When they got outside, Naruto was already standing in the dirt patch that had served as their sparring spot over the past few days.

"C'mon, Sakura!" Naruto called out to her, impatiently.

Sakura giggle as she went over to him, "OK, OK," Sakura stood in front of Naruto as Sasuke sat down on the rock. Sakura set him a single smile before turning to Naruto and sliding into a fighting stance, Naruto had already done so.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked the young girl, not wanting to hurt her. Sakura looked at him, breathing deeply before nodding to the blonde. Naruto smiled and his hand came up a little higher, "Alright, let's start."

Naruto came at Sakura first and she quickly spun to the left, lifting up a hand to push him away. Naruto quickly came back around, swinging his arm around towards her, using the momentum of the spin. Sakura ducked down with an "EEP!" and Naruto brought his leg up, connecting with Sakura's side, sending her sprawling to the ground. Naruto went to pin her, but she quickly rolled to the right, forcing him to face plant the dirt. Sakura got up quickly, trying to just pin him, but he was faster, already standing.

They slid back into their stances, facing each other. Naruto's face was covered in dirt, but also a large smile as he looked at the young girl, "Good job, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled, at the boy in thanks; but, had to jump back when Naruto charge again, fists swinging faster. Sakura stuck to dodging the fists, weaving every which way to dodge the tanned fists. Sakura slid back, out of his reach as Naruto went to kick.

Naruto set his foot back down, his breathing heavy as he looked at the girl, "You need to start hitting back if you wanna win; dodging will only get you so far."

Sakura looked nervous, her breathing was heavy as well, "O-OK"

Naruto charged again, swinging his arms, trying to connect with any part of her. He lunged forward, aiming to his her side and expecting her to slide backwards again. However, instead she came in closer, effectively dodging his hit as her own connected with his stomach; her small, pale fist hitting just to the right of his bellybutton.

Naruto jumped back, smiling at the girl, before quickly charging again, stepping it up once more. His hits were coming faster, and a few were able to connect. Sakura slid back into her dodging routine; waiting for an opening to his the young boy. Finally, the opportunity came when he tried to deliver a high kick. Sakura ducked down, getting low to the ground, and quickly spun, her leg out so that she kicking his lower leg, knocking him to the ground.

Sakura quickly got on top of him, pinning him to the ground like she'd seen Sasuke do. She sat panting for a second, smiling down at the boy as he smiled up at her, "You did really, really good Sakura-chan!"

"Really?" Sakura asked, unsure of herself.

"Yup," Naruto said, smile still on his face. He chuckled, "Now, it's your turn to spar," He looked over at the raven-haired boy.

"Hn," Sasuke walked over, reaching down a hand to help the young girl up. Sakura gladly accepted, letting him lift her up off of Naruto, who quickly jumped up and looked at the two of them, his eyes locking with Sasuke's for a moment before leaning down to kiss the top of Sakura's head, "You really did do good," Naruto whispered.

Sakura blushed, "Thanks," She turned to Sasuke and felt nervous, all of the sudden. Sakura had known that Naruto had been going easy on her, but, she wasn't so sure about Sasuke doing the same thing.

Sasuke slid into a fighting stance in front of her and Sakura lifted her hands up, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet so that she'd be able to move quickly when Sasuke came at her.

Sasuke eyed the rosette in front of him, taking a deep breath, "Sakura, get ready."

Sakura nodded towards the boy and he came at her, hands reaching out to strike her. Sakura slid back, keeping her weight on her toes so that she could move quickly. Sasuke moved to the right, bringing his hand in the opposite direction, towards the girl, and she slid back and down, her leg coming out to try and trip him the same way she had tripped Naruto.

However, Sasuke was quicker and he successfully dodged her leg, jumping back before charging her again, leg coming down. Sakura rolled to the side and got up, her fist coming up towards Sasuke, who easily knocked it to the side and delivered his own hit to her side, his hand connecting with her side.

Sakura grimaced in pain, knowing a bruise would soon be forming where the hand had just connected. Sakura was forced to duck again as his fist came for his face, only to have to swerve to the right as his leg came up and down.

As his leg came down, Sakura spun so she was to his right and came back with her fist, missing his head only slightly as he leaned back and away, stepping backwards to compensate for the loss of balance it took. Sakura swung her fist, trying to hit him, but he kept dodging. She swung again and again, her arms beginning to burn, but couldn't quite land a hit on him. She made to hit him again, spotting an opportunity, but missed and Sasuke quickly stepped in closer to her, bringing his hand up to hit her side, knocking her a little, and wrapping his arms around her, effectively pinning her to his body.

"You're too slow, Sakura," Sasuke told her, "If your strategy is to dodge, you need to increase your speed and stamina."

Sakura nodded, her breathing hard and burning as she sucked in cool air. Her body felt like it was on fire, every muscle screaming in protest against their sudden, intense usage. She felt like she would fall down to the ground once Sasuke let her go, adrenaline was no longer pumping through her body to keep her moving forward.

Thankfully, when Sasuke let her go, she was able to stand, albeit a bit shakily. She turned to face him, her breath shaky as she tried to steady herself.

"Go take a break, I'll fight Naruto, then you fight again." Sasuke told her and she nodded, walking towards the now empty rock as Naruto sprinted to where she'd just been, eyes eager for a good fight.

Sakura sat on the rock, her legs seeming to cramp up slightly as they got used to the sudden stopping and going of the quick battles. She was able to calm down as she sat, watching the boy's rapid movements as they matched one another blow for blow, much faster than either one of them had been with her.

She sat there, amazed at the difference between them, the boys quick, confident movements and her slow, shy, dodges and hits. They moved with a confidence and grace that far surpassed her own and as Sakura sat there watching the boys, moving like cheetahs, she felt her fear of failure coming back.

She was nothing compared to these two boys, her skills weren't even comparable to theirs. Her shoulders sank down as she rested her chin on her knees, arms wrapped around her legs, and she watched them fight, taunts flying out.

The battle continued for a few more minutes until the blocked each other's hits, sending themselves backwards, separated Sasuke looked over at Sakura, lifting a hand to wave her to them, "Come on, Sakura, time to get going again."

Sakura walked over to the boys, nervous about fighting them, having to deal with them stooping down to her level, going easy on her. Because she was so much weaker than they were.

"We decided we're gonna teach you some moves." Naruto smiled at her, "So, c'mon, let's go."

"I'll attack you, Naruto will help you." Sasuke informed her, slipping into a stance, Sakura following, bringing her hands up.

"Naruto," Sasuke nodded towards Sakura and Naruto walked over to her.

"OK, um," Naruto looked at her for a minute before reaching out to adjust her hands quickly, "You like dodging more and so, I think it'll be better if your hands are like that. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what Iruka-sensei said," Naruto looked to Sasuke, who rolled his eyes, but nodded nonetheless.

"OK, let's spar," Sasuke said and Naruto stepped back just in time for Sasuke to come at Sakura, who dodged, trying to place a hit to the side, like she'd seen Naruto do previously.

"Keep up, Sakura," Sasuke told her, going at her again. Sakura ducked, hopping up when the arm went over her head, her hand reaching out to grab his wrist, trying to his his arm and maybe pop his elbow.

But, Sasuke ducked under his arm with his other hand, forcing her to let go. He swung his leg at her in a roundhouse, which she dodged, but he switched quickly and managed to clip her side, sending her backwards. She hit something solid and warm. Naruto.

Sakura looked at him, confused.

"Start over, I hit you." Sasuke told her and slid back into a stance. Sakura slid back into the one Naruto had shown her, "Good, now, keep on your toes." And he went at her again.

This pattern persisted late into the day, short spurts of fighting shortly followed by Sasuke and Naruto correcting something she did (there was always something to correct). By the time the sun seemed to be low in the sky, sending beautiful blues, reds, and purples across the sky above Konoha, Sakura felt tired and bruised and aching; but, it was all _worth_ it. Every bruise, cut, scratch, ache was worth the knowledge she'd gotten by the simple spar-and-teach method Sasuke had adopted with her.

"Time to come in and eat," Mikoto called from the doorway, a small smile on her face as she saw her son with his two friends. Naruto was behind Sakura, hands on her shoulders as he twisted her upper body while Sasuke moved her hands, showing her a better way of blocking a certain hit.

"Kay," Sakura called, back, her body going slightly slack.

"Let's go," Sasuke said, stepping away from the two as Naruto went in the opposite directions. Sasuke headed in first and the other two followed, Sakura with a small, satisfied smile on her face.

"Guys," She whispered before walking into the house and both of them stopped, turning to look at the young girl, curiosity in their eyes, "Um, thank you. For . . . for showing me all of that stuff."

"No prob, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shrugged, "It was nothing for someone as amazing as I am!"

"Dobe," Sasuke shook his head as they made the way to the kitchen, "But, it really wasn't a problem, Sakura."

Sakura smiled at him as they entered the kitchen, she wasn't that surprised to see Shisui was still there, seated comfortably next to Itachi as he smiled at the group as they walked in.

"Have fun playing ninjas?" Shisui asked them as they sat down across the table from the two boys, Sakura in the middle between her two friends.

"We weren't _playing_," Naruto protested, looking at the Uchiha across the table.

"Sure, sure," Shisui chuckled at the rise he was getting out of the hot-heated blonde.

"Behave," Mikoto warned, setting plates in front of everyone as Fugaku followed, sitting at his usual seat.

"Sorry," Shisui apologized, giving Mikoto his best heart-breaking, fan-making smile he could muster.

"Sure, sure," Mikoto repeated Shisui's earlier words as she sat down, taking a small bite of her food.

"Tastes good, yet again," Shisui complimented Mikoto as he ate the food.

"Still trying to get on my good side, I see," Mikoto joked.

Shisui just shrugged as he continued to eat the food, which was disappearing almost as fast as Naruto's was. Sakura giggled at the older boy's antics, he was like an older version of Naruto. She ate her food at a slower, smart pace as to avoid the inevitable bout of choking on rice that Shisui, or Naruto, were sure to experience sooner or later.

The choking bout came towards the end of dinner when Naruto tried to stuff more rice into his face while also swallowing the previous, something than resulted in him giving a deep-chested cough and a personal hit to the chest, before it was quickly resolved. Sakura just rolled her eyes at her friend's childishness while Sasuke muttered, under his breath as he lifted a bit of fish to his mouth, "Dobe." Naruto, in turn, just glared at Sasuke since his mouth was full of rice.

"Thanks for the meal," Shisui told Mikoto as she picked up the plates and brought them to the kitchen, Sakura assisting her by taking hers, Naruto's, and Sasuke's plates to the kitchen.

Mikoto smiled as she walked back in to the room with Sakura trailing behind her, not surprised to find her husband gone, probably off to check on some police reports or something. She loved that man to death, but he was an extreme workaholic.

"Thank you, Shisui, you are officially forgiven," Mikoto told him as she turned to look at Naruto, "Would you like to stay over tonight, as well?"

Naruto nodded, "Don't see why not."

"No problem," Mikoto smiled at them.

"We need to get going," Itachi broke the conversation, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. Their mission briefing was in twenty minutes and Itachi preferred to be on time to such things.

Mikoto nodded, looking down at the young girl who was suddenly still, looking over at Itachi with a nervous look in her eye, "Yes, you do. Boys, why don't you help Sakura get her stuff together?"

"Kay," Naruto said, still feeling a little peeved that Sakura got to go on an important mission before he could, and without him as well. Sasuke stood up and helped Sakura, following the blonde boy who was walking down the hallway towards the guest bedroom they'd spent the night in.

Mikoto smiled at the small group of friends, turning to look at her son and _his_ best friend, "Keep an eye on her, Itachi."

"Aa," Itachi said, which Mikoto translated to mean something along the lines of-

"Don't worry, we won't let the munchkin out of our sights!" Shisui cut off her thoughts.

Mikoto smiled, yeah, that was what Itachi meant.

"The mission should go off without a hitch, we'll be back within a week." Itachi amended, looking up at his mother, "Sakura will only be in danger for mere moments before we recover her."

Sakura came walking back down the hallway then, a thin pack on her back as her two friends flanked her. She looked at the three Uchiha's and had to force down the fear-induced nausea she felt brewing in her stomach as the nervousness and apprehension returned full force.

"We need to head out," Itachi said, standing up to retrieve his and Shisui's bag from the corner, throwing Shisui his bag, which he caught easily.

Sakura turned to her friends, a small smile on her face, "See ya."

"Later Alligator," Naruto finished, smiling at his best, oldest friend. He reached over and gave her a tight hug, spinning her around as she giggled. Naruto set her down and Sakura had to regain her bearings for a moment before she turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at her with a cool, collected face, "I'm not worried about you because I know they'll take care of you. But, regardless, don't do anything stupid."

Sakura chuckled at his way of expressing his worries for her, "Whatever you say, Sasuke. I'll be back before you know it, though, and you can finish teaching me what you started today."

"Sure," Sasuke shrugged, "Now, get going, you don't wanna be late."

"Bye," Sakura reached out and pulled the young boy into a tight hug, despite his lack of want. He wrapped his arms around her lightly and tapped his hands against her back a few times before stepping away from her.

Sakura turned quickly and walked to where the two older boys stood, the feeling of nervousness coming over her again as they quickly walked out of the house.

They walked in silence until Shisui broke the somewhat comfortable silence, "So, Sakura, are ya scared?"

Sakura turned to the boy and sent him a glare as she shook her head defiantly. She wasn't really all that scared, it was more nervousness. But, that didn't mean Shisui had the right to just bring any of that up.

"Just like a little kitten," Shisui joked as he looked at the younger girl's weak glare. He rolled his eyes and reached down to pick her up, throwing her over his arm like a bag of feathers.

"Put me down, Shisui!" Sakura complained, hitting him on his back as her legs kicked back and forth.

Shisui just laughed as he walked next to Itachi, completely ignoring the complaints coming from the little girl.

Itachi rolled his eyes as he watched the two of them, "I can't believe I have to deal with you two for the next week."

Shisui just laughed, "You know we'll just make things interesting!"

"Annoying." Itachi corrected as they walked up the staircase to the hokage's office, Sakura had quit wriggling around, settling for low, unintelligible mutterings.

Shisui set her down right before walking into the office, settling for just setting an hand on her shoulder, pushing her into the office. Sakura looked around, not sure of what to think about going out on this mission. She'd expected to see the other guy who'd be going with them, bur he was not there yet; only the Hokage sat behind his desk, smiling at them as they walked in.

"Well, hello there, Sakura. Itachi, Shisui." He nodded to the two boys, eyes alight with curiosity as his eyes stayed on the youngest of the group, "Are you prepared?"

Itachi nodded, "Everything is ready, where is Kakashi?"

"You know him, he'll probably just meet you at the gate." Sarutobi laughed at the ANBU's antics, "You know most of what you need. The village is waiting on you, here's a scroll containing further information about who is suspected to be the murderer."

Itachi stepped forward and grasped the scroll, sliding into the front of his anbu vest, "Anything else, sir?"

"No, that will do. Just remember, this mission contains three objectives: 1, locate the murder and track him down; 2, find the missing girl, either rescue or retrieval; and 3, keep the charge safe, no need to trade one life for another."

Itachi nodded in understanding, and stepped back, beside Shisui, "We'll be taking our leave now. I shall send word back to you when we arrive in the village. Estimated time, 2 days or less."

Sarutobi nodded and all three of the visitors disappeared in a flash.

Sakura had felt a jolt of panic course through her when Shisui had grabbed her arm and drug her out of the window, moving so fast everything was a blur to her untrained eyes. She found herself quickly at the front gates, where a man was standing, leaning against one of the poles as she, Itachi, and Shisui made their way over to him. He was very tall compared to them, silver hair spiking up on the top of his head. He wore typical ANBU clothes, green vest, black long-sleeve undershirt, and a white mask covering his face, in the shape of a dog.

The man nodded as they walked over, putting away a bright orange book as he stood to greet them, his head tilted down in a way that made Sakura suspected her was looking at her.

Beside her, both Shisui and Itachi pulled out their own masks, Shisui's a rabbit and Itachi's was a panther. Sakura felt a little left out as they pulled on the mask, seeming to transform themselves to whole new level, donning costumes of war.

"Shisui will carry Sakura until we reach the first checkpoint, I shall have her the second half of the journey." Itachi stated, mostly to the stranger in front of them, who nodded, looking down at the girl once again.

"Let's head out."

They traveled through the darkening skies for what felt like hours, Sakura riding quietly on Shisui's back as the forest blurred around them. The speeding green was oddly soothing to the pink-haired girl and she quickly found herself falling into a quiet slumber.

* * *

><p><strong>author note:<strong>

****First off, sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry **sorry** sorry **sorry **_sorry sorry _sorry **_sorry_**_ sorry_ sorry for not updating this story in /so/ long! I honestly, hadn't forgotten about it. Just things ... happened. :/ No excuse ... I know. but still:

Sorry. Gomen. Lo siento.

But hey ... here's the next chapter at least. :D :D haha

Tell me what you think!

And, I'll try to update as often as possible, but I lost all my stories (legit sobbed too when it happened) and I'm in College now (freshmen, haha) so I am busy. Not to mention, my brain has developed several different stories in different fandoms, so I'll probably post several stories on my account here. But still, this one is my baby, my lil' sweetie and I _do_ plan on finishing this! I swear!

__Well, until next chapter,

**_Emy_**


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